Hey! The French Revolution wasn't a good thing you know. Marie Antoinette was a very devout Catholic and nothing at all what proponets of the revolution said about her. But that is not my point here. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Corondolet had a few sisters guillotined in the revolution, along with many other nuns and priests. Martyrs all.

My last post consisted in a bit of "nun bashing" - it did a disservice to the faithful Sisters who still exist. (I'm not talking about the radical feminists among them in this post, who had aroused my anger. Nor am I talking tonight about the 'mean' ones I experienced.)

Today a lovely Sister came into the Store with her sister. I know these two well, they are parishoners at St. Louis Church in downtown St. Paul. I knew the one is a Sister, I assumed she was a Daughter of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who, from their original foundation in France, always wore secular clothing to hide from the revolutionaries, and they continue in secular garb today, not living in community, but among the laity. I was astonished to find out she was from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Corondolet, an order to whom all Catholics in the mid-west owe an enormous debt of gratitude. If it had not been for these early 'pioneer' Sisters, we would never have had the schools and hospitals, or one local college in particular, that we grew up with and in some cases still have today. Nor would I have been properly instructed in the faith! [snip] Read More